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Gellan gum‐hydroxyapatite composite spongy‐like hydrogels for bone tissue engineering
Author(s) -
Manda Marianthi G.,
da Silva Lucilia P.,
Cerqueira Mariana T.,
Pereira Diana R.,
Oliveira Mariana B.,
Mano João F.,
Marques Alexandra P.,
Oliveira Joaquim M.,
Correlo Vitor M.,
Reis Rui L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.36248
Subject(s) - gellan gum , materials science , self healing hydrogels , biomaterial , biocompatibility , interconnectivity , swelling , biomedical engineering , tissue engineering , chemical engineering , bone tissue , porosity , composite number , composite material , nanotechnology , polymer chemistry , chemistry , medicine , food science , engineering , artificial intelligence , computer science , metallurgy
Osteoinductive biomaterials represent a promising approach to advance bone grafting. Despite promising, the combination of sustained biodegradability, mechanical strength, and biocompatibility in a unique biomaterial that can also support cell performance and bone formation in vivo is demanding. Herein, we developed gellan gum (GG)–hydroxyapatite (HAp) spongy‐like hydrogels to mimic the organic (GG) and inorganic (HAp) phases of the bone. HAp was successfully introduced within the GG polymeric networks, as determined by FTIR and XRD, without compromising the thermostability of the biomaterials, as showed by TGA. The developed biomaterials showed sustained degradation, high swelling, pore sizes between 200 and 300 μm, high porosity (>90%) and interconnectivity (<60%) that was inversely proportional to the total polymeric amount and to CaCl 2 crosslinker. CaCl 2 and HAp reinforced the mechanical properties of the biomaterials from a storage modulus of 40 KPa to 70–80 KPa. This study also showed that HAp and CaCl 2 favored the bioactivity and that cells were able to adhere and spread within the biomaterials up to 21 days of culture. Overall, the possibility to tailor spongy‐like hydrogels properties by including calcium as a crosslinker and by varying the amount of HAp will further contribute to understand how these features influence bone cells performance in vitro and bone formation in vivo . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 479–490, 2018.